Mafia City: War of Underworld review

Erin Myers

2018-12-09

Professional Critic

Erin Myers

Mafia City: War of Underworld review

2018-12-09

Review Standarts

Our main goal is to provide full and useful app reviews. Our authors strictly follow the rules: minimum 15 hours of the real app usage experience or gameplay, test on main Android and iOS versions, test on phones and tablets.

Mafia City: War of Underworld suffers from the curse of a great title name utterly spoiled by lackluster gameplay. Where you expect a chaotic riot, you are met with no actual combat action, though much shouldn’t be expected of a mobile game.

Plot - 4/5

Let’s just say a good plot without actual delivery is like a story with nothing for the reader to relate to. War of Underworld takes the player on a journey through the dark underside of the Western Mafia with all aspects of gang life as marketed by the big screen: drugs, alcohol, racketeering, etc. A host of conversations which sound like a good Siri gone bad mark your rise as a Mafia crime boss. Mafia City has all the elements of a strategy game you would expect. There are turf wars which you use to assert your authority over other mafia bosses in your area. Each player starts out with 7 Mafiosi and at the beginning can place 1 mobster in each of the city’s seven locations or trade a card.

Each location offers one control point, with the location ability offering more play options, e.g., Jail, Fight Club, Harbor, Gentleman’s club and Business District.

Visuals - 4.5/5

The open world is neatly designed, and there is no shortage of scenery to look at. Objectification aside, the beautiful women models that the game offers serve a great deal of pleasant distraction from the lack of onscreen action. There isn’t much war or combat to speak of. Dialogue is in the form of on-screen prompts, and occasionally a voice line will be added. Movement is done through shifting perspectives across the open world.

Replay Value - 4/5

Mafia City has a great story behind it, but it’s easy to lose a great plot if you don’t deliver on the action. The story is nicely done, although some of the finer aspects such as voice acting terribly let the game down. Ultimately, you might come back just to see how the story pans out, and because a Mafia-themed strategy game is a welcome break from the mostly medieval-themed genre.

Controls - 4/5

The game hands you the regular dose of menus and on-screen prompts instead of the combat you hope to experience, therefore it’s all about swiping and tapping. Finishing tasks are done through mostly tapping, and as the levels progress you need to handle a lot more on the screen. A gentle hand prompt at the bottom of the screen also appears to direct your movements just in case you don’t know where to tap.

Conclusion

Mafia City is a game of many contrasts. It has a great title and above average visuals, but like most mobile strategy games, fails to deliver on crucial aspects of gameplay. The game has meat, especially in terms of storyline delivery and in-game activity, but it doesn’t capture the attention too much when you’re actually playing. It won’t inundate you with endless menus or repulsive ads, but it might leave a sour taste in your mouth after all is done.